Guide to the state government’s ban on compensation claim farming

Queensland’s workers’ compensation scheme regulator has published guidance on recent legislation banning claim farming practices in this state.

Since 30 June 2022, it has been an offence to engage in claim farming practices in Queensland.

This amendment was made by the Personal Injuries Proceedings and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2022.

The amendment includes advice for lawyers, insurers and workers in an easy to access format. It highlights exactly what claim farming is and how to report it. There are sections on submitting law practice certificates and the role of the Workers’ Compensation Regulator in investigating and prosecuting claim farming offences.

These matters will be managed by Workers’ Compensation Regulatory Services in the Office of Industrial Relations. They also include further powers for the Legal Services Commission to oversee compliance and investigate breaches of the claim farming provisions.

To streamline investigative and enforcement activities across personal injury schemes, the laws also facilitate the sharing of information between the Workers’ Compensation Regulator, the Legal Services Commission, and the Motor Accident Insurance Commission.

The guidance outlines how claim farming laws work and discusses:

• prohibiting the act of cold-calling or personally approaching another person without their consent and soliciting or inducing them to make a personal injury claim
• making it an offence for any person to pay claim farmers for the details of a potential claimant, or to receive payment for a claim referral or potential claim referral
• that legal practitioners certify (via a ‘law practice certificate’) at various times during the claims process that neither they or their associates had paid a claim farmer
• that law practices may need to refund, or may not be entitled to recover, fees and disbursements paid, in connection with a claim that has been claim farmed.

The laws aim to break the connection between claim farmers and law practices by removing any incentive for a claim farmer to supply a potential claimant to a law practice, or for a law practice to obtain details of a potential claimant from a claim farmer.

More information

Read more about the workers’ compensation claim farming ban.